Photon linear polarization in the elementary process of atomic-field bremsstrahlung

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Abstract
In an electron-photon coincidence experiment the angular dependence of the photon linear polarization in the elementary process of atomic-field bremsstrahlung was measured for fixed direction and energy of the outgoing electron and for coplanar geometry. An electron beam of 300 keV was used, incident on copper and gold targets. It was found that for photon-emission angles with large cross section the radiation is almost completely polarized with the electric vector in the reaction plane. A decrease of the polarization caused by electron spin-flip radiation was observed for a photon-emission angle near the minimum of the cross section. The measurements are compared with theoretical calculations.